


Redemption

by msraven



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Apocalypse, Brother Feels, Happy Ending, M/M, Offscreen character death, Post-Apocalypse, Unexpected Alliance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-05
Updated: 2013-09-05
Packaged: 2017-12-25 15:58:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/955016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/msraven/pseuds/msraven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There had been no warning, no time to mount a defense, and no reason for the alien ships’ sudden arrival and just as sudden departure.  They leave behind a devastated Earth, but the human race is too resilient to die a quiet death.</p>
<p>An Apocalypse AU for my trope_bingo square.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Redemption

When the attack comes, they are on opposite sides of the globe - one in Moscow and the other in Brazil. They don’t have time for more than a quick, static-filled phone call. They scream “I love you!” through the line and hope to God that the other person hears them.

It’s eerily quiet after the alien ships leave. 

There had been no warning, no time to mount a defense, and no reason for the alien ships’ sudden arrival and just as sudden departure. They leave behind a devastated Earth, but the human race is too resilient to die a quiet death.

Pockets of humanity dig themselves out of the rubble and come together to build again. Everything they had before is gone, but they still have their intellect and ingenuity, their fierce drive to fight through the worst odds.

Clint is the only Avenger that survives. He wishes he could find the humor in it - the only unenhanced, unarmored, fully human superhero somehow living through the apocalyptic destruction of Earth. There are days when he wishes he’d died with the others, days when the pain from his shriveled left arm is too much to bear, days when he catches sight of the horrific burns that now mar his skin, days when the thought of living without Phil feels like an insurmountable obstacle.

Most days, Clint pushes through his grief and helps what is left of humanity survive a little longer. Today is not most days. 

Today is supposed to be a day of celebration. Today marks the passing of another year since Phil was crazy enough to bind his life to Clint’s, reciting and receiving vows to love, honor, and cherish in front of a judge and a small group of friends. Today is the day that Clint decides that he has nothing left to sacrifice but hope.

They have scavenged a few vehicles here and there, but there is no chance of finding anything airworthy and the sky is too filled with ash to make a reasonable attempt. There has only ever been one option and Clint tries not to laugh at himself for how long it has taken his heart to agree with his mind.

Clint climbs to one of the last few high points left in the city and closes his eyes. He reaches deep inside his heart, to the place he keeps secret even from himself, and touches the sliver of ice cold blue that still remains. He whispers one word, “Loki.”

When Clint opens his eyes, the god is leaning against a twisted metal spire, looking completely unaffected by the devastation that surrounds them. 

“I will admit you have me curious,” Loki says smoothly and Clint ignores the chill that crawls across his skin at the god’s voice.

“I request a boon,” Clint tells him.

Loki barks out a laugh that’s devoid of mirth. “And why should I grant you anything?”

“Because you know as well as I that your debt to me has not been repaid and there are other powers at play besides yours.”

Loki’s eyes go cold, but Clint knows his eyes are colder.

“You have always amused me, my pet,” Loki taunts and Clint refuses to react. “Let’s say I continue to amuse myself, how do I benefit from this little...transaction.”

“You can always use a soldier with heart,” Clint responds.

Loki’s eyebrows go up in surprise and it is to his credit that he never glances down at Clint’s arm.

“What do you ask of me?” Loki asks.

“Wings. Strong and swift enough for me to travel across the globe,” Clint answers and Loki’s eyes flare with anger.

“You go in search of your beloved?” Loki scoffs. “This love you mortals cherish makes you blind to your own destruction.”

“Destruction has come, yet love is all that remains,” Clint counters. “And it is not only mortals who love.”

“He was a fool to stay!” Loki yells, his voice echoing through the emptiness of the city around them, before regaining his control and adding in a near whisper, “An even greater fool to die in the attempt.”

“My boon?” Clint prods in the silence that follows.

“Yes, very well,” Loki replies with a careless wave of his hand. 

Clint falls to his knees as pain erupts from his back, but he does not cry out.

“You may very well die in your attempt,” Loki says, “in which case, you prove my point. If you succeed, then I will find you.”

Loki is long gone by the time Clint trusts himself to rise without screaming in agony. The pain soon recedes to a dull throb and he flexes the wings experimentally before running off the structure. Flight is instinctual - Loki does nothing by halves - and it takes no time to become accustomed to the feel of the wings or the effort it takes to keep him airborne. 

Clint sets back down, grabs the gear he’d prepared, and takes one last look around at the ruined city which had saved and housed him all these months. There is no one to say goodbye to - everyone is still hesitant to make new connections with those that remain. He takes off without a backward glance.

The trip takes two long weeks. Clint flies over land as much as he can, staying close to the coastlines and landmarks that he remembers. He scavenges and he hunts. He flies on the brink of exhaustion and yet the wings never fail him. He perseveres. 

Seeing the large stone statue - viciously scarred, but still standing tall on the mountain - brings tears to his eyes. Clint knows that his trip has not been in vain, knows that they are both survivors and that his heart has guided him true. He lands under the cover of darkness and falls asleep curled atop a stone shoulder.

The dawn brings the soft scuff of familiar footsteps at the base of the statue and Clint is on the ground before he registers waking.

“Clint?”

“Phil?”

Then Clint has his arms and his wings around Phil, all the grief and pain since the attack dissolving as the sun breaks over the horizon. Phil’s arms wrap around him in turn before questing hands roam over his shoulders, back, and wings.

“Clint? Clint. What have you done?” Phil asks.

Clint pulls back and sees nothing but opaque white where there was once bright blue. He takes Phil’s hand and guides his fingers to Clint’s unmarred cheek.

“It’s me and I did what I had to,” Clint answers. 

Clint doesn’t flinch when Phil brings his other hand up to touch along the jagged skin on the opposite side of his face, neck, and down to his now useless arm and hand.

“I knew you’d come,” Phil whispers, fingers ghosting over Clint’s skin on their way back up to pull the once-Avenger’s head down for a kiss.

“Always,” Clint whispers back as they break apart.

“I suppose I have you to thank,” Phil says evenly as he turns unseeing eyes toward where Loki stands a few feet away. 

Loki steps closer and Phil wraps a tight arm around Clint’s waist.

“Wherever you take him, I go too,” Phil demands and Clint is not strong enough to argue. Whatever sacrifices they make from here, they do it together. 

“Of course,” Loki replies easily. “What use is a soldier without his heart?”

Clint can’t help the laughter that bubbles out of him. “You knew I would succeed.”

“Of course you would succeed,” the god says. “Your moniker does you no justice. You are no mere hawk, but a phoenix cannot rise without the trial of fire.”

“What do you want from us?” Phil asks. 

“I am in need of your cunning and bravery, but first…”

Loki raises a hand and they are surrounded by light. Pinpricks spread along Clint’s skin and he’s surprised when the weight of the wings on his back does not disappear. When he blinks his eyes open, it’s to the sight of beloved blue looking clearly back.

“Clint,” Phil smiles happily, eyes roving across his face, as he grips Clint’s left hand and Clint startles before gripping back.

They both turn back to Loki with confusion and awe. “Why?”

“Because mortals are not the only ones who love and it is time we avenge the fallen.”

_fin_


End file.
